>> August 26, 2007

Wow! What a great round of golf with my daughter. We played in a scramble/best ball tourney together today. We had to use at least 2 of her drives and she had to play from the green tees, which I think are the women's tees.

Some notable action from today:

Hole 1, Par 4.I totally mis-hit my drive and barely made it past the green tees. Julia hit a decent shot just off the fairway about 100 yards forward and we played her ball. We had a chance to get on the green in 3 but I chunked a wedge badly and we ended up with a triple bogey. It would get better, thank god.

Hole 3, Par 4. Julia drove her ball into the woods and I hit a big time drive off the fairway, but up about 100 feet on a huge hill. Oops. Thankfully, I found the ball and made an amazing recovery, hitting a 7 iron about 140 yards to just off the green. We made bogey after Julia just barely missed her par putt.

Hole 6, Par 4.I hit a perfect drive, and Julia matched my effort within 15 yards. We played her ball and ended up with par after I hit a 7 iron on the green.

Hole 9, Par 5.I hit a good drive with my 5 Hybrid. The guy we were playing with took his turn and when he hit the ball, the club head flew off his club. We were all shocked - it was funny as hell, but we managed not to laugh too hard. Then, his kid (a 6th grade boy) drove out about 140 yards. Julia stepped up and in a pure moment of girl power nailed her drive about 15 yards past his, just off the fairway. Unreal! I flubbed a short wedge and we made bogey.

>> August 19, 2007

No idea who to credit on this joke, but it is funny.

Shortly after the Pope had apologized to the Jewish people for the treatment of Jews by the Catholic Church over the years, Ariel Sharon, then Prime Minister of Israel, sent a proposal to the College of Cardinals for a friendly game of golf to be played between the two leaders, or their representatives, to demonstrate the friendship and ecumenical spirit shared by the Catholics and the Jews.

The Pope met his College of Cardinals to discuss the proposal. "Your Holiness" said one of the Cardinals, "Mr. Sharon wants to challenge you to a game of golf to show that you are old and unable to compete. I am afraid that this would tarnish our image in the world". The Pope thought about this and, since he had never held a golf club in his life, asked, "Don't we have a Cardinal to represent me?" "None who plays golf very well," a Cardinal replied. "But there is a man named Jack Nicklaus, an American golfer, who is a devout Catholic. We could offer to make him a Cardinal, and then ask him to play Mr Sharon as your personal representative. In addition to showing our spirit of co-operation, we will also win the match."

Everyone agreed that this was a great idea. The call was made. Of course, Nicklaus was honored and he agreed to play as a representative of the Pope.

The day after the match, Nicklaus reported to the Vatican to inform the Pope of the result. "This is Cardinal Nicklaus. I have some good news and some bad news, your Holiness," said the golfer."Tell me the good news, Cardinal Nicklaus", said the Pope. "Well, Your Holiness, I don't like to brag, but even though I have played some pretty terrific rounds of golf in my life, this was the best I have ever played, by far.

I must have been inspired from above. My drives were long and true, my irons were accurate and purposeful, and my putting was perfect. With all due respect, my play was truly miraculous."

"How can there be bad news?" the Pope asked. Nicklaus sighed, "I lost by three strokes to Rabbi Tiger Woods.

I absolutely love golfing on vacation. For the first time ever, I played a round during a family break - our first visit to Myrtle Beach. We headed down on one of those Marriott special preview deals (more on that later) and I got a free round as part of the package.

I got up early and hit a bucket of balls in the morning mist before teeing off with 3 strangers - a guy from VA and a father/daughter from Boston. The girl was probably 16 or so, and shouldn't have been on the course. She was a new player and could barely swing the club.

No matter! I was golfing on vacation and had an amazing time. I shot a 103, but the round could have easily been 6 shots better - 2 chunks and 3 triple bogeys really hurt bad. But again - no matter - I was totally relaxed and had a terrific time.

The course was nice, not too hard and had a few pretty difficult par 3 holes.

As for the Marriott weekend - we got 4 days/3 nights for $199 plus the golf and $50 in "Marriott bucks." We sat through a 90 minute sales pitch and guess what - we actually bought a timeshare!

This means 2 things:

More golf on vacation for me - yes!!

You have an opportunity to get a sweet deal on a weekend from me as a reader of this blog. I'll post up more details as I get them, but it's pretty simple. You get a very similar deal as I described above - and I get Marriott points if you buy. No pressure, no big deal. Stay tuned and I'll post up details as soon as I get them.

>> August 4, 2007

When I was in High School, there was this amazing band "Hipsway" that hit the scene big time.

I played 18 today with a guy who is really, really good. He's a 4 handicapper and I met him because we were both playing "singles." So this guy crushes the ball - his driver are 280-300 easy - and I can tell he's taking it easy, sizing up the course and seeing what's what.

I can also tell he's looking at me funny half the time - I get the silent treatment when I duff the ball - and the occasional "good golf swing" comment when I manage to actually hit the ball. (Side note... new favorite club is the 5 hybrid. God I hit that thing great).

By the 17th hole, I'm +30 or so and he's about to finish with a 73. I slice the crap out of the ball and for the first time after 4+ hours, the guys says "Marc. Hipsway."

I'm trying to figure out what he just said and ask him what he means. What he was talking about what how I have now started over-compensating my shoulder turn by adding a nice hip movement (left to right) which is completely throwing off my angles.

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